Longing Hearts
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Expecting to die on May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn instead awakens that morning to wholly unfamiliar surroundings. Gradually she discovers that she has journeyed across both space and time to find true love.
1. Awakening

It was past midnight on the night of May 18, 1536, and Anne Boleyn couldn't sleep. She knew that she was going to die the next day, and while she feared the pain of the sword slicing through her neck, her sorrow over having to leave the life she loved was greater even than the fear. The knowledge that she wouldn't be around to see her two-year-old daughter Elizabeth grow up broke her heart.

_At least I'll be with George again, _she told herself. Her beloved brother had been beheaded only yesterday, and she still couldn't quite believe that she'd never hear his voice or look into his eyes again.

She must have finally dozed off at some point, because when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was no longer in the Tower. Instead she was in a completely unfamiliar room, one which was small but lavishly decorated. Despite its grandeur, it appeared to be a servant's quarters rather than those of royalty. It also looked distinctly French, yet somehow different from the French court she'd lived in when she'd been younger. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about the style and decoration of the furnishings seemed...if she had to describe them in one word, that word would be _futuristic._

As she grabbed a brush from the dresser and began to run it through her long, dark hair, she heard a rustling, a suppressed giggle, from the hallway. Curious, she opened the door to see three fresh-faced young women, who immediately stopped their chattering to gawk at her. As startled as they were, Anne stared back without saying anything.

"You must be the new lady-in-waiting," one of the three ventured, in French.

_So I was right, _Anne told herself. As badly as she wanted to protest that she was a Queen, not a servant, she deemed it wiser to learn more about the new situation she was in first.

"My name is Anne," she told the three young women.

"I'm Giselle," said the woman who'd spoken. "And this is Pauline and Desiree."

"Pleased to meet you, Anne." Pauline and Desiree curtsied. Anne nodded her acknowledgement.

"We must hurry," Pauline said. "The Queen is surely up by now."

"Queen Eleanor of Austria?" Anne ventured.

The other three women just stared at her in surprise.

"No, Queen _Marie Antoinette _of Austria," Desiree finally told her.

"What year is this?" Anne felt totally bewildered.

"Why, it's 1780," Giselle told her.

_So it really is true, _Anne told herself. _I've traveled across not only space but time as well. _

Soon the four women reached the bedchambers of Queen Marie Antoinette. Anne had to gasp at their opulence and splendor. Not even her own bedchambers during her marriage to King Henry VIII had been as richly furnished.

The Queen herself was a very attractive woman, with a round face, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very fair complexion.

"Please hurry up and get me ready," she said crossly to the ladies in waiting. "I'm meeting Count von Fersen for lunch today. You," she said suddenly to Anne. "Procure a basin for me to soak my feet in."

"They're at the other end of this hallway," Pauline whispered to Anne.

Biting back a retort, Anne was on her way to the closet where the basins were stored when she almost ran right smack into him.

Although not handsome in the traditional way, he had an air about him which Anne found fascinating. He had the darkest brown eyes she'd ever seen, as dark as her own, in fact.

"I'm so sorry, _monsieur," _she said, blushing fiercely.

"It's quite all right, _mademoiselle." _He sounded kind, perhaps a little shy, and when he smiled at her, she felt a pleasant warmth inside.


	2. Marie-Therese

"You're new here," he observed.

"Yes, _monsieur. _My name is Anne." She curtsied.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Anne. I hope that you find life in the palace enjoyable." He went on his way, and Anne, aware of the slight delay, hurriedly fetched the basin and returned to the Queen's chambers.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough," Marie Antoinette grumbled when she returned. The Queen nodded her dismissal, and Anne headed for her chambers, marveling at the difference in personality between the French Queen and Katherine of Aragon. Curious about the identity of the man she'd met on her way to fetch the basin, she asked Giselle who he was.

"Why, he's the King, Louis XVI himself." Giselle sounded astonished that Anne didn't already know that.

_In the year 1780, Louis XVI will be the King of France. _Anne made a mental note of the fact, then quickly corrected herself. _Is _the King of France. It was so difficult to get used to the future now being the present.

_Elizabeth. _Whatever became of her? Did she ever become the Queen of England? Surely she'd be long dead by now. That thought was like an arrow piercing Anne's heart. She was gripped by the sudden urge to find out everything she possibly could about her daughter's life.

While on her way to lunch with Giselle, Pauline, and Desiree, Anne happened to catch a glimpse of Marie Antoinette eating lunch and laughing with a tall, handsome man with curly blond hair. The King was nowhere to be seen. Anne wondered why the Queen was dining with Count von Fersen and not including her husband. She herself would certainly never have done that to Henry. She wouldn't have dared.

Anne didn't see Louis for several days following their initial meeting. Then one day she was sitting in the garden doing needlework when she caught sight of something that quite took her breath away.

The little girl was beautiful, with curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and chubby cheeks. She looked to be perhaps a year or so younger than Elizabeth had been the last time Anne had seen her. Although Elizabeth had red hair rather than blonde, the sight of this new little girl so reminded Anne of her own daughter that she had to choke back a sob.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

Startled, Anne turned to see who had spoken and saw that it was none other than King Louis himself!

"Indeed she is, Your Majesty." Anne smiled.

"She is my daughter, the Princess Marie-Therese Charlotte," Louis said proudly. "Would you like to meet her?"

"Oh, yes!"

Louis called the little girl to himself. "This is one of your mother's ladies-in-waiting," he told her. "Her name is Anne."

"Well, hello there, sweetheart." Anne smiled warmly at the little girl, and Marie-Therese smiled back at her.

"Is something wrong, _ma cherie?" _Louis' voice was soft with concern. "I see that there are tears in your eyes."

"It's simply that...your daughter reminds me so of my own Elizabeth."

"So you have a small daughter as well, then."

"I did have."

_"Ma cherie, _I am so very sorry." Louis' eyes were filled with compassion now, and Anne knew that she would have to let Louis think that Elizabeth had died in early childhood, at least for the time being. Until she could find a way to tell him the truth about herself without running the risk of his thinking her mad.

"Oh, _there _you are!" Anne turned to see Marie Antoinette bearing down on them. "Come along, dear." The Queen took little Marie-Therese's hand, glanced quickly at Louis and Anne, and then led her daughter back toward the palace. Louis sighed heavily as he watched them depart.


	3. The Necklace

"She's such a lovely little girl," Anne remarked.

_"Merci." _Louis glanced at her. "You are English. Am I correct?"

_"Oui, _Your Majesty."

Louis smiled warmly. "Please, call me Louis." Instantly Anne was reminded of similar words she'd been told what seemed like an eternity ago. _Please, call me Henry..._

"So, is she your only child, then?" asked Anne.

"So far." Louis' eyes seemed to have a faraway look. "The day she was born was the happiest day of my life."

Anne remembered Henry's words at Elizabeth's birth. _You and I are both young, and with God's grace, boys will follow..._

"So were you disappointed that she was a daughter rather than a son?"

"Not in the least." He smiled again. "So tell me about yourself, Anne of England."

"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell. My father is..._was..._the Earl of Wiltshire. I have an older sister, Mary, and a brother, George." At the memory of George her eyes filled with tears. She felt Louis gently touch her elbow and looked up into his kind eyes.

"And your husband?" he asked gently.

'I...have no husband."

Louis looked confused for just a moment, and then his eyes widened in wonder. "Why, that's beautiful!"

"What?"

"Your necklace!"

Anne had almost forgotten about her pearl necklace with the letter 'B' in the center.

"It was a gift," she said simply. Louis nodded.

* * *

Anne quickly adjusted to life at the French court of the eighteenth century. As she was fluent in the language and accustomed to the ways of royalty, she fit in well with the other ladies in waiting, and to her immense relief, none of them seemed to suspect anything amiss about her.

Until one day everything changed. Anne was going about her everyday tasks when suddenly a messenger boy appeared before her. "The King requests your immediate presence in his private quarters," the boy told Anne.

With her heart pounding madly in her chest, Anne hurried to Louis' quarters. Had she displeased him in some way?

When she reached her destination, Anne was amazed to see Louis just standing there with an expression on his face she'd never seen before. Beside him was a desk upon which she saw a portrait of herself wearing the necklace. Beside the portrait was an open book.

At her approach, Louis immediately stepped forward and clasped her hands firmly in his own.

"Dearest Annette." His voice was soft with an emotion she couldn't quite identify. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't," she told him. "You would have thought me mad."

"But however did you do it?"

"I have no idea," she told him. "I fell asleep in the Tower on the night before I was to be executed and awakened the next morning here in the palace."

Louis lightly touched the 'B' initial on her necklace. "That must have been terrifying for you."

"I was quite frightened and confused at first," she admitted.

"And now?"

"I have become much more accustomed to it, yet there's one thing that deeply troubles me."

"And what is that?"

"I simply cannot bear not knowing what became of my daughter, Elizabeth."


	4. The Library

He frowned. "Why, Elizabeth Tudor became the greatest Queen England has ever known. That's common knowledge."

"So my prediction to Henry was correct!" She gave a sharp, jubilant laugh. "So tell me, did Henry ever get a son off his precious Jane?"

"Do you mean Jane Seymour? She died shortly after the birth of her son, the future King Edward VI."

"And what became of him?"

"He died of consumption before reaching adulthood."

"Ha!" Anne cried exultantly. "And my Elizabeth succeeded him?"

"Not quite. After his death, the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon ruled England as Queen Mary I. When she fell ill and died only a few short years after her coronation, Elizabeth succeeded her."

"So Edward and Mary both died without progeny," Anne noted with satisfaction. "And what of Elizabeth?"

"She never married. I expect her father's experiences with matrimony turned her against it. She was succeeded by James of Scotland, the son of Mary Stuart."

"Her father's experiences with matrimony?" Anne's eyes widened with interest. "So Henry married again after Jane's death?"

"Three more times." Louis chuckled. "Anne of Cleves, with whom the marriage was never consummated, your cousin Katherine Howard, who was beheaded for adultery, and Katherine Parr, who outlived him."

"And when did Henry himself die?"

"In 1547. He had a horrible death, sweet Annette. He was in agony from the sores on his legs, and they stank so badly that no one could stand to be around him."

Instead of the smug satisfaction he expected to see on her face, he instead noticed that she looked deeply troubled. "He was once very handsome," she said softly.

"I hope that all of this hasn't upset you." Louis sounded very concerned.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right." Anne smiled. "Do you have any portraits of Elizabeth as an adult that I could see?"

"Certainly!" He grinned broadly. "My personal library holds many of them, and numerous articles have been written about her as well. Her reign was known as 'The Golden Age.' You're perfectly welcome to visit my library and see what it contains. I expect you'd find many fascinating things to explore."

"You are very kind, Your...Louis."

He chuckled. "It's my pleasure. I'll take you there now if you like."

He took her hand and led her to the royal library. It was just as opulently furnished as every other room in the palace, and Anne had to gasp at the wealth of information it promised.

Louis saw the expression on her face and chuckled indulgently. "Please feel free to spend as much time as you want here. All this room's supplies are at your disposal."

Overwhelmed, Anne ran her fingers lightly over the spines of the books nearest her. Gingerly, she removed one from its place, took it to a nearby table, and opened it. Once she began to read, she was hooked.

Absorbed in reading about important events between 1536 and the present year, Anne lost track of time, until she was suddenly aware of a hand gently shaking her shoulder and realized that she'd fallen asleep. Dazed, she blinked and looked up into Louis' smiling face.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed.

"That's quite all right." Louis chuckled. "I'll escort you back to your bedchambers."

"I hope the Queen had no need of my services," Anne said as they walked along.

Instantly Louis looked very sad. "She did not. She spent the entire day in the company of Count von Fersen."

Anne felt terribly awkward, unsure of how to respond.

At last they reached her bedchambers. "Good-night, sweet Annette." Louis softly kissed her cheek.


	5. Tea With Louis

Anne fell asleep that night warmed by the memory of Louis' lips on her cheek. She had many dreams, of Henry dying in bed, grotesquely obese and alone, of Elizabeth on the day of her coronation, proud and regal, and to her amazement, of herself and Louis strolling beside the river, hand in hand.

The next few days passed uneventfully. Anne continued her typical daily activities and saw very little of Louis. Occasionally, when she was in his presence, she would glance at him surreptitiously, but he never gave any indication whatsoever that he was aware of her doing so. She felt strangely empty and sad, for no logical reason that she could imagine.

Then one day the world as she knew it turned upside down. The entire palace was abuzz with the news. Queen Marie Antoinette was gone, having run away with Count Axel von Fersen to his home in Sweden. The King was in seclusion, mourning the failure of his marriage.

"Why doesn't he capture them and have them both executed?" Anne asked Giselle. "That's what Henry...I mean, Henry VIII of England...would have done." She couldn't believe how close she'd come to giving away her secret.

"Who knows?" Giselle shrugged. "His Majesty isn't like most Kings, nor like most men, even."

"What do you mean?"

"I hear that he has said that he only wants Her Majesty to be happy, even if it isn't with him."

"That _is _very unusual." Anne frowned. "And what of the Princess Marie-Therese?"

"She is to remain here in France, as it's her home. However, His Majesty has said that her mother shall be able to visit her whenever she wishes. To him, it is most important that the mother/daughter bond not be severed."

"To me it seems almost beyond credibility for a King to behave thus." Anne thought of how Henry had forbidden the Princess Mary from seeing her mother while he was in the process of divorcing Katherine.

"There's more." Giselle smiled knowingly. Anne raised her eyebrows. "Her Majesty is with child, and some say it is Count von Fersen's rather than the King's."

Anne gasped, shocked. "But if the child is male, and is indeed the King's, then it is heir to the throne."

"But it cannot inherit the throne if it's paternity is in doubt," said Giselle.

* * *

After a few weeks, the excitement died down and life returned to normal. Louis was permitted to have his marriage to Marie Antoinette annulled, and rumors began to fly that he would marry one European princess or another, but nothing ever came of any of the stories, and everyone began to wonder whether he would indeed ever remarry at all.

One day Anne was carrying a big basket full of clothing to be folded and put away when she slipped in a puddle of water someone had neglected to mop up and felt herself fall. Right before she hit the floor, a pair of strong, masculine arms caught her.

"Whoa! Careful, now." She heard a gentle chuckle and with astonished eyes looked up into the face of the King. Instantly she blushed a deep red.

"I...I don't know what happened," she said truthfully, having not even seen the puddle.

"One of the maids just got a bit careless," Louis said with a smile. "Are you all right?"

"I...I think so. Just a bit startled, is all."

"No wonder." After making sure that she was steady on her feet, Louis let go of her arms. "Come sit with me awhile and have a spot of tea. You look like you could use a break." His smile was so warm and friendly that she couldn't resist his invitation.

Several minutes later, Louis and Anne sat comfortably drinking tea and chatting together. Despite her awareness that she was in the presence of the King of France himself, Anne found that the experience felt very natural, very right.

"I hope you're finding your position here at the palace pleasant and enjoyable. I realize that it's quite a change from what you're accustomed to." Louis sounded apologetic.

"I'm content. Whatever my lot in life is now, at least I still have one. I came perilously close to losing my head, you know."

Louis' hand covered her own and squeezed it gently. She felt an electric thrill go through her body.

"You're safe as long as it's within my power to keep you so," Louis assured her.

"I am..." She felt incredibly awkward. "I'm very sorry about the unfortunate situation concerning the Queen."

"It's all right. I saw it coming. I knew that it was only a matter of time." His eyes held a faraway look. "She's just so...beautiful, so charming, so witty, so self-assured. Everything I could never be. I knew that she would tire of me sooner or later."

Anne gasped in surprise. She couldn't imagine any two men being more different from one another than Henry and Louis.

"It was seven years before I was able to consummate our marriage," Louis continued. _"Seven years. _There was nothing physically wrong. I was just very shy and unsure of how to go about it. It was only with the assistance of my brother-in-law that I was able to overcome my obstacles and perform my duty to her. Nine months later, Marie-Therese was born." He smiled fondly at the memory.

"She's a precious little girl," Anne told him.

"She's my life."

"As Elizabeth was mine." Anne was amazed at the kinship she suddenly felt with the monarch.


	6. Their First Kiss

Anne enjoyed conversing with Louis so much that she dreaded having to return to work. Louis seemed to read her mind, as his hand covered her own and he gave it a quick squeeze. "We'll do this again really soon," he promised her.

He kept his word, as over the next few weeks he seemed to deliberately seek out opportunities to chat with her. At first it was just a few minutes together at a time, drinking tea or perhaps eating pastries, and from that it progressed to long walks in the beautiful gardens of the palace. Louis shared many intimate details of his early years with Anne during these encounters.

"I was never really supposed to be King," he told her. "My brother was, but he got sick and died, and I was the next oldest. A few years after Marie and I were married, my grandfather contracted smallpox and died. How vividly I remember the crown being placed upon my head! To me it felt much too heavy, and I was truly overwhelmed with the responsibility that had been thrust upon my shoulders. It still seems a bit much at times."

"I never particularly wanted to be Queen either, at least not at first," Anne told him. "It was my father who pushed me to pursue a relationship with Henry. My sister Mary had already been his mistress for awhile, and when he tired of her, I was next in line. My father used all three of us children to further his own ambitions." Anne couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"I was only fifteen, and Marie fourteen, when we were wed," Louis told Anne. "I was enchanted with her, but the people of France always resented her for her Austrian blood. It may seem a harsh thing to say, but in a way, it is fortuitous that she is gone now, for that reason."

"Princess Mary always bore a deep hatred for me because of the part I played in her poor mother's unfortunate end," Anne told Louis. "It angered me that she refused to give me the respect I deserved, but I never truly wished her harm. A part of me sympathized with her, although of course I was too proud to let it show."

As time passed, Anne found that she looked forward more and more to these times spent with Louis, and when she wasn't with him, he began to occupy her thoughts more and more.

One morning Anne awakened shivering with fever and was unable to get out of bed. When Giselle came to check on her, her eyes grew wide with fright and she immediately went to fetch the court physician.

"You have smallpox," the physician told Anne.

For about a week and a half, she lay in bed miserable, with pox covering her body and inside her mouth and throat and even underneath her eyelids. She missed Louis so much it hurt, but she knew that he must stay away from her, as he'd never had smallpox himself.

At last the pox covering her body formed scabs, and the scabs fell off. The physician pronounced her recovered.

Anne was temporarily moved to different chambers so that her own could be cleaned and disinfected, and she had a visitor almost right away.

"Annette, my darling!" Louis exclaimed as he took her into his arms. Anne was shocked.

"Your humble servant is pleased to see you as well," she replied uncertainly.

"I've been worried to death about you!" Louis continued. "My heart just sank when I heard you had smallpox. I was so afraid I'd lose you. I spent many hours in prayer for your recovery, and I was ever so relieved when the physician told me that you were out of danger."

"Your servant deeply appreciates your concern, and your prayers," Anne said awkwardly.

"Come to my workshop." He took her hand. "I want you to see what I made for you."

Having never been inside the King's workshop before, Anne was awed by all the wonders it contained. Louis led her to his bench. Upon the table in front of it she saw the most exquisitely beautiful box she'd ever seen.

It was circular and pale pink, trimmed in a pattern of white lace with tiny deep pink flowers and larger pink bows.

"Watch this," Louis said softly. He turned a key in the back, and the top sprang open to reveal a deep pink ballerina's shadow on the underside of the lid and a tiny pair of ballet slippers attached to a pole in the center. A tinkling tune played as the pole with the ballet slippers turned around and around.

"You made this...for _me?" _Anne's voice was soft with wonder.

"Do you like it?" Louis sounded just a bit shy.

"Oh, Louis, it's beautiful! _Thank you!" _She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back just as tightly, then pulled away slightly to look into her eyes. His own shone with happiness.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you like it," he told her, right before his lips met hers in their first kiss.


	7. Wedding

Over the next few weeks, Anne's health slowly improved. Louis took her for long walks in the garden, hoping that the fresh air would do her good, and they also went sailing on the Grand Canal, horseback riding, and for picnics in the woods. Although he was a King and she a mere lady-in-waiting, when they were together, the differences in their rank seemed to melt away, and to Anne it seemed that they were truly equals.

"I have made a decision in the matter of my possible remarriage," Louis said to Anne one day. Anne felt her heart sink. So one of the rumors concerning him and a European princess was true, after all, she concluded.

"And who shall be the next Queen of France?" Anne asked, trying in vain to sound casual.

"Why, the woman who makes my heart beat faster every time I'm with her. The woman whom I can't live without." He smiled shyly. "If you're willing, that is."

"Do you mean it, Louis? Do you really want to marry me?"

"I love you very much, Annette." He took her hands and looked into her eyes. "If you were to become my new Queen, it would make me the happiest man in the world."

"Oh, Louis!" Gasping with joy, she threw her arms around his neck.

He chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

They were married shortly afterwards in the royal chapel, kneeling on silken cushions. As they walked arm in arm down the Hall of Mirrors, little Princess Marie-Therese walked behind them, scattering flower petals. Anne recalled her own first marriage to Henry, how secretive it had had to be, due to the situation with Katherine of Aragon and the annulment. But Louis' marriage to Marie Antoinette had already been annulled long ago, so he didn't have to make any effort to hide the fact that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Anne.

The people of France had, surprisingly, been accepting of the union as well. The fact that their monarch was to wed a relative unknown who'd served as lady in waiting to the previous Queen did raise a few eyebrows, but the overall reaction had been positive. Anne suspected that the reason was that Marie Antoinette had been so hated that almost any choice would have been an improvement over her. Katherine of Aragon, on the other hand, had been well loved by the English people.

"You look more beautiful than ever to me today, dearest Annette," Louis said to his bride as the two ate dinner together in the royal theater later in the day. "I love the way your eyes are sparkling."

"They're sparking with joy, dearest Louis," Anne replied. "Today has been the happiest day of my life."

"As it has been of mine," Louis replied. "I love you so much, sweet Annette."

"And I, you," she replied softly.

After dinner, an orchestra followed, and dancing. Much later, Louis and Anne were escorted to their nuptial chambers.

Anne's heart beat with anticipation as she began to undress. She hadn't made love at all since the last time she'd been with Henry, which now seemed a lifetime ago. She remembered Louis' confession of how long it had taken him to consummate his marriage to Marie Antoinette. Would he have a similar problem with her?

As they fell into bed together, Louis took her into his arms and held her tightly. "You'll never know how long I've waited for this moment," he murmured.

As he gently caressed her, her hand wandered downward until she felt the smooth skin of his member, which she was pleased to discover was already rigid.

A few moments later, he moved into position and entered her, and they made love together for the first time. Afterwards, they lay together, cuddling.

"Did I please you?" Louis sounded anxious.

"Yes. Did I please you?"

"Oh, yes! It was completely different from making love with Marie. In that situation, I felt that it was something that I had to do, a duty. With you, it seems the most natural thing in the world, like it's something that was meant to be."

Anne smiled to herself and stretched in lazy contentment. "When did you first realize that you love me, Louis?"

"To be honest, I believe it was the first time I saw you."

"Do you mean that rather embarrassing incident in which I nearly bowled you over in search of a basin?"

"The very same." They both laughed. "Although I never would have admitted it to myself at the time, as I still had high hopes that my marriage to Marie would work out."

They were both silent for awhile, remembering their respective first marriages and the heartaches that had followed.

"I only had one successful pregnancy before," Anne finally said. "After Elizabeth was born, I had three miscarriages. I don't know whether or not I could ever successfully carry another child to term."

"That doesn't matter," Louis told her. "Whether or not you ever give me another child, I'll always love you just the same."

He could never know how much those words meant to her.


	8. The Queen Of France

Anne awakened the following morning to the sensation of Louis' arms around her holding her tightly and realized, to her joy, that it hadn't been a dream, after all. "Good morning, _ma belle cherie." _Anne looked to see Louis smiling at her.

"I can hardly believe it's true, that I'm really the Queen of France now," she told her new husband.

"Here's the proof." Louis lifted her left hand and showed her the wedding ring on her finger.

"I never dreamed such happiness was even possible!" she exclaimed.

"Neither did I," Louis agreed.

For the first few weeks of her new marriage, Anne was deliriously happy. She and Louis took long walks in the garden, went on carriage rides and picnics with Princess Marie-Therese, went horseback riding together, or just sat quietly talking together in the parlor on rainy days. Louis showered her with presents, including several more beautiful jewelry boxes he'd made himself.

Several months after the wedding, she began to experience the symptoms of pregnancy. Fearful of getting her hopes up too soon, she kept putting off going to see the midwife, until one day she felt particularly bold and finally mustered the nerve to do so. The midwife confirmed her suspicions and, both elated and terrified, she knew that she had to find a way to tell her husband.

As it turned out, she practically bumped right into Louis as she was leaving the midwife's chambers. He immediately frowned with concern. "Are you ill?" he asked.

"I am with child," she blurted out, almost without thinking.

"Anne, _mi amour!" _He laughed happily as he picked her up and spun her around. "I cannot wait to tell my Marie-Therese that she will have a new brother or sister soon!"

From that day on he pampered Anne almost to excess, insisting that she spend most of her time in bed and having her meals brought to her there.

"I am merely with child, not ill!" she finally told him one day.

"But darling, with your history of miscarriage, we must take utmost care that nothing happens this time," he replied.

Louis himself spent inordinate amounts of time in his wife's bedchambers, sitting beside her bed, talking to her, reading to her, even singing to her. Although he wouldn't have marital relations with her for fear of harming the unborn babe, he slept with her every night, his arms holding her tightly and her head resting on his chest.

It never even occurred to her to wonder if he'd taken a mistress.

Word reached the palace from Sweden that Marie Antoinette had given birth to a son, and that Count Axel von Fersen had acknowledged the child as his own. Anne was with Louis when he heard the news, and she saw the deep pain in his dark eyes a split second before he lowered them to hide it from her.

"I'm so sorry," she said, covering his hand with her own.

"It's all right," he replied. "He'll be loved and well provided for."

"But aren't you curious to know what he looks like, to see whether or not there are traces of yourself in him?"

"What would it matter? He could never be France's next King, anyway." He smiled and patted her rounded abdomen.

"I do so hope that I can give you a son," she said.

He took both her hands into his own and looked into her eyes. "I pray that God shall grant us a healthy child."

His devotion to her continued for the rest of the duration of her pregnancy, and when her labor began at last, a shiver of excitement went through her. "Your son is on his way!" she told him.

He sprang into action immediately. "Are you all right? Can you breathe freely?"

"Why, yes, I am able to breathe as normally as ever." She was puzzled.

He opened the windows and immediately announced that no one but the physician and the midwife would be allowed in the room with Anne. He sat at her side, holding her hand, throughout her several hours of labor. At last she felt the urge to bear down, and after a number of exhausting pushes, she felt the newborn slide from her body, and a moment later, she heard its lusty wail.

"You have a new daughter, Your Highness!" the midwife announced.

Anne felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. A daughter! What would Louis say?

Yet her husband was still at her side, speaking lovingly to her. "It's all over with now, dearest Annette! It's over, and our darling little girl is here! Oh, _ma cherie, _I love you so much!"

"I'm sorry, Louis," Anne mumbled.

"No, _ma cherie, _don't be! There's nothing to be sorry for at all!" As he placed kisses all over her face, she felt her heart swell with love for him.

The infant was cleaned and handed to her mother. Anne took one look at her new daughter and felt tears fill her eyes. "She looks just like my Elizabeth did at birth!"

"Perhaps we could call her Marie-Elise," Louis suggested. "Elise is a French form of Elizabeth."

"Marie-Elise Louise," Anne decided. "I want your name to be a part of hers as well."

Louis smiled, pleased. Anne was so happy that every shred of disappointment she'd initially felt was forgotten.


	9. Trouble Brewing

The next few years of Anne's life passed in fairy-tale bliss. The birth of little Marie-Elise helped fill the hole left by the loss of Elizabeth, and she came to love Marie-Therese as if she were her own daughter. Marie Antoinette's visits to her daughter became less and less frequent as time wore on, and eventually all but stopped. Anne saw Marie Antoinette's son Joseph only once and was unable to determine whether the boy looked more like Louis or Axel. Although she knew that it was a mute point anyway, she was still curious.

Anne herself gave birth to two more children after Marie-Elise, Louis-Charles on March 27, 1785, and Marie Sophie Helene Beatrice on July 9, 1786. Louis and Anne were very happy with their growing family, and their love for one another deepened as time passed.

Unfortunately, the state of affairs in France became very troubled. The government went bankrupt, and many of the citizens blamed Louis for having provided so much financial support to the United States in its war for independence.

"Perhaps it was a mistake," Louis said to Anne one evening. "But I didn't know what else to do. This fledgling country needed my help, and I simply didn't have the heart to turn them away." He gave a dejected sigh.

"You did the right thing, darling." Anne came to him and began to massage the tension out of his shoulders.

"I could save up my allowance," Marie-Therese offered.

"Me too," Marie-Elise added.

Louis chuckled sardonically. "I'm afraid that would hardly suffice."

Later that evening, Anne went to the room in which she kept all the music boxes and other costly presents Louis had given her and just stood there looking at them silently. A few minutes later, she felt Louis' arms gently encircling her waist.

"I know what you're thinking, but please don't," he begged her. "I gave you these things made by my own hands because I love you, and I can't bear the thought of them ever belonging to anyone else."

"But if it means the difference between whether or not the kingdom survives..." She walked over to the first music box he'd ever given her, right after she'd recovered from smallpox so long ago. Lovingly her fingers caressed it as she felt a tear slowly slide down her cheek. She looked back at her husband and saw the love he felt for her shining in his eyes. She went to him, and he took her into his arms and held her tight.

"Dearest Annette," he whispered. "There has to be a better way."

Her hand drifted to the front of his pants and lingered there for a moment as she gave him a cheeky grin. He laughed happily, picked her up, and carried her to their bedroom.

* * *

Louis never spoke of the country's financial difficulties in his family's presence again, but Anne could see the worry in his eyes every day, and it deeply concerned her.

On July 14, 1789, Louis looked especially despondent. "They stormed the Bastille today." He sounded as if he were crying. "Eighty-three men are dead. They also killed De Launay, Foulon, and De Flesselles and took all the weapons and gunpowder."

"I wish I were older, so I could be a soldier and get it all back!" Louis-Charles exclaimed.

"You _can't _be a soldier," Marie-Therese told her younger brother. "You have to be the King when you grow up."

"Being a soldier would be a lot more exciting," Louis-Charles argued.

"But if you're the King, you get to tell everybody else what to do, like Papa does," Marie-Elise pointed out.

"If everyone did what I told them to do, _cherie, _there would never be any trouble, and everyone would get on splendidly all the time, wouldn't they?" Louis smiled ruefully as he ruffled his daughter's hair.

On October 5 of that year, Anne was in her chambers when she heard banging and screaming. Her heart began to race as she realized that an angry mob had broken into the palace. Terrified, she and her ladies ran to the room in which she knew Louis was, only to find the door locked. Desperately the women screamed and beat on the door, but they couldn't be heard over the din of the mob.


	10. Flight

Suddenly the door burst open and Louis was pulling Anne inside. "Annette! Thank God you're all right!"

"What about the children?" Anne cried.

"They're already in the carriage," Louis told her. "Come, there's no time to waste!"

"But where are we going?" asked Anne.

"The Tuileries Palace," Louis told her.

As soon as the King and Queen were seated side by side in the carriage, the grand procession was on its way. Armed National Guards led the way, and a throng of sixty thousand people surrounded the carriage as it moved along.

Three-year-old Sophie sat in her mother's lap, staring with round eyes at everything that was going on.

"Who are all these people, Mama?" she asked.

"They are our subjects," Anne told her. "They are escorting us to the Tuileries Palace."

"What's that?" asked four-year-old Louis-Charles, who sat in his father's lap.

"It's where my great grandfather once lived," Louis told his son.

"It must be really old," remarked Marie-Elise, who sat behind her parents with her older sister.

"It is," Louis replied glumly.

Suddenly gunshots rang out. The family screamed and ducked as bullets flew over the carriage.

"Mama, I'm _scared!" _cried Sophie as she clung to her mother and sobbed. Anne didn't know how to comfort her daughter, as she was scared out of her wits herself.

It was nightfall before the family reached the dilapidated Tuileries Palace. "You mean this is where we're going to live now?" Marie-Therese asked in dismay.

Anne herself looked at the ruins of the formerly grand palace and felt her heart sink. She and Louis carried their sleeping youngest children into the living area and laid them on the available cots. Then they got the two older girls settled and finally retired themselves.

As Anne lay in the dark, memories of both Versailles and Whitehall Palace filled her mind, and she began to cry. Soon she felt Louis' arms around her, comforting her. "At least we still have each other," he murmured. "And this is only temporary, _mi amour. _Soon we'll be able to return to our true home."

"Make love to me, Louis," Anne said. "I need to feel you inside me, now more than ever before."

He did, more gently and tenderly than he ever had, and then she fell asleep with her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

* * *

The family lived at the Tuileries Palace for two years, and then on June 20, 1791, they fled after dark to Montmedy. In the picturesque little town near the Austrian border, they began new lives as ordinary French citizens. Having always been a royal, Louis at first had no idea how to adjust to the life of a commoner, but Anne, who'd been a commoner herself before marrying Henry, helped him.

In their adopted home, Louis and Anne lived long, happy lives, surviving to see their children and grandchildren grow up.


End file.
